NSLI-Y 2026 Taiwan – Week 2
By: Eliza, Lily, and Veena
大家好！Dàjiā hǎo! Hello everybody!
We are already a THIRD of the way through the program! Can you believe it?! We sure can’t, but with the amount of learning, exploring, and adventuring we’ve been doing, the days have flown by.
Now that we’ve finally begun to perfect our routines of life in Taipei, we’d like to share even MORE details on what the typical day of a NSLI-Y student looks like! (Spoiler: as always, lots of learning Chinese and making friends!)
Although our host family experiences are all unique, we have one thing in common in the morning: a commute, either on the bus, the MRT (捷運/jié yùn), or on foot. This week, we’ve polled the people and have some statistics to share!
Although this picture was technically last week, we have to salute Rohin’s continuous and enthusiastic pursuit of eating each and every …part… of a chicken.
Our recipient of the Longest Commute Award is…Vivaan! He has a whopping 1 hour and 20 minutes of travel before he starts the school day, and starts with a bus before transferring to two MRT lines! He always makes it to school on time, though, and by the end of these six weeks he’ll likely be the steadiest public transit rider of all time—probably enough to rival even the many locals we’ve seen who somehow manage never to stumble even in the most bumpy conditions.
Finally, the Average Commute across all of us is about 45 minutes! We all appreciate Taipei’s beautifully efficient and clean public transport, even if some of us don’t experience it every day. It’s a wonderful opportunity for flashcard review, that’s for sure!
The next item on our agenda is Chinese class/中文課/Zhōngwén kè! We split into our three class levels at 8:40, but we still see each other during breaks! This week, Pandas battled their first test, while Tigers and Dragons took their second.
Pandas Lincoln, Lily, Anya, Luis, Eliza, and Rohin take a post-test selfie.
Tigers also tried some fun new exercises this week, according to Cameron: “We had a stack of flash cards with Chinese characters, and we had to make as many sentences as we could using the vocab words in 100 seconds.” Although Chinese is very challenging, we all agree that NSLI-Y and Shih Chien University is an amazing environment with the best teachers!
After class, we have lunch together, and each day is a little different as to what comes next. Sometimes we have RD meetings, sometimes we have Chinese song class, but one guarantee is a snack outing.
Rohin, John, Alexia, Emilia, and Anya trying local street pancakes.
Seraphina enjoying a double dose of 珍珠奶茶/zhēn zhū nǎi chá/bubble tea.
This week, we had TWO special expeditions after classes, both of which were super fulfilling!
The first was to the National Taiwan Science Education Center, or 國立臺灣科學教育館 (Guólì Táiwān Kēxué Jiàoyùguǎn). While learning Chinese and making friends is of utmost importance to us, exploring the universal language that is science was definitely a fun day. Across the 8 floors we could access, there were numerous exhibits to explore, interactions to indulge in, and sights to see!
Veena and Eliza whimsically enjoy one of several interactive activities at the science center.
Cameron engages in an epic skybike stunt (100% safe).
Our second expedition was on Wednesday to an exhibit by the American Institute in Taiwan celebrating the 250th anniversary of the United States! Eliza and Cameron had a lot of fun singing the National Anthem, and as their prize received a postcard score of the anthem styled to look like George Washington…do you see the resemblance?
Eliza and Cameron show off their Washingtonian postcards.
We all enjoyed taking their quiz to find out which American heroes we were. This week’s blog was happy to welcome celebrity guest authors Albert Einstein (Veena), Albert Einstein (Lily), and Katherine Johnson (Eliza).
American flags fly proudly alongside the ACES-Shih Chien NSLI-Y banner at the America 250 exhibition! Here’s to the big 250th birthday— zhù nǐ shēng rì kuài lè, Měiguó! 祝你生日快樂, 美國！
Alexia, Emilia, and Anya share some American spirit!
After school and activities, many of us seek out our own adventures, either with host families or 同學/tóngxué/classmates! Here are some of this week’s experiences:
Arthur and Lincoln getting 火鍋/huǒguō/hotpot together.
Luis with an epic view of the Taipei skyline, featuring the famed Taipei 101.
Liam, Arthur, Cadence, John, Rohin, Anya, Alexia, and Emilia checking out Sun Yat-Sen Memorial Hall.
Anya playing mahjong with her host family.
Luis, Emilia, and Anya making some local friends on a bus to the MRT.
Eliza repping her home state alongside her host brother at the New Taipei ice rink, a surefire way to stay cool in the heat!
Lily and Bugcat Capoo in Ximending.
Lincoln, Liam, and Arthur posing in front of the lush scenery of Taipei.
Emilia running into Pān Lǎoshī, Nān Lǎoshī, and Henry at the Raohe St. Night Market!
Eila at the grocery store with her host family. It’s been so cool to see the different produce available in Taipei!
This week overall was a great continuation of the first, and we hope to continue bringing a sense of adventure, hard work, and curiosity into the next four. We hope you’ve enjoyed this little window into our daily lives, and thanks again to all our teachers, mentors, parents, and everyone who’s helped make this program possible for all of us! 再見/zài jiàn! See you next week!